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2010 NM Mule Deer!!!

Spitz

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Jan 25, 2007
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Idaho
I'm off in the morning for what will at least be 5 or 6 days of some good exercise. Looks like plenty of rain and snow in the forecast through the weekend. Might be too little too late for me, but for those of you hunting next week the conditions may be just right. Not sure if i"ll have coverage where we'll be hunting but will surely post some pics upon my return.
 
Take lots of pics, kill a nice buck, leave your sisters hat at home!
 
Best of luck Spitz. Hope you smack one of those big ones that the locals leave behind. Anything less than 190 and I am going to say you shot too soon. Look forward to hearing stories and seeing pics by next week.
 
Thanks guys. I got the sister's hat, the lucky panties, a half box of bullets, and a whole bottle of ibuprofen and about everything else I can stuff in my pickup. If I actually shoot a deer it's probably going to be tied onto the hood for the ride home. :D
 
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Just got back, here's a recap:

I'd be lying if I didn't say I was really excited for this hunt. It was in a migration area and very few tags were handed out. I had spent a weekend scouting earlier in the summer and showed up on Thursday night to get ready and scout previous to the opener on Saturday morning.

Put in a LOT of miles on Friday and again on Saturday without seeing a single deer. I was at a loss. Spoke to a few of the locals as well as the game warden who had worked the unit for fifteen years and had finally drawn a tag. Everyone had the same story . . . the deer hadn't migrated and the resident deer had been hit hard by mountain lions. The dozen or so deer skeletons I saw while hiking backed up the lion story. Elk were plentiful and if I had an elk tag for the unit, any one of the several 300+ bulls I saw would have been in big trouble. Still, no deer. Nothing to do but make the best of it and work as hard as possible until the bitter end.

Sunday night we helped a guy load up a young 3x4 buck into his truck. It was nice to see a buck after three days, but dead on the ground doesn't really count. Did find several small elk sheds and a couple of great mule deer sheds, one was off a typical that was easily 180+.

Monday, we got some great advice and a good lead, but, after getting soaked all day in the rain and blown by the wind we got back to a camp that had been blown over by one of the 80+ mph wind gusts and a destroyed tent. Luckily, a flea bag motel wasn't too far away.

Tuesday morning was day 5 and our last full day's hunt. At 7:30 in the AM I was lucky enough to see my first buck on the hoof in 5 days, unfortunately, he was a dink. But, a living buck did raise the spirits a bit. Then, 10am found me in just the right spot for a couple of does to walk out with this unlucky fellow following.
nm deer.jpg

Not the biggest deer around, but he was dang hard to come by and put a big smile on my face.

I'll post a few more pictures later.
 
Nice buck! I don't think I would have been too picky at that point. Sounds like a tough hunt.

Man, that buck looks like it doesn't have 2" of deductions....
 
Leupold BX-4 Rangefinding Binoculars

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